Dropbox tops estimates in first results since IPO

(Reuters) - File sharing and storage company Dropbox Inc (DBX.O) beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly results and topped estimates for paying subscribers in its first financial report as a publicly traded company.

FILE PHOTO: The Dropbox app logo seen on a mobile phone in this illustration photo October 16, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo

However, the company’s shares, which had gained 10 percent this week ahead of the earnings, slipped 4 percent in extended trading on Thursday.

The San Francisco-based company said the number of paying subscribers surged 23.7 percent to 11.5 million at the end of March, topping analysts’ average estimate of 11.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company, which started as a free service to share and store photos, music and other large files, has worked to build up its enterprise software offering.

Dropbox reported average revenue per user (ARPU) of $114.3 in the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimate of $110.

The company, which competes with Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) as well as Box Inc (BOX.N), forecast current-quarter revenue in the range of $328 million and $331 million.

Analysts were expecting revenue of $324.9 million.

“Today’s earnings also bode well for existing investors that are still in their lock up period,” said Minal Hasan, investor at K2 Global, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in startup companies.

Dropbox’s quarterly loss widened to $465.5 million, as the company accounted for IPO-related expenses.

The company had a blockbuster debut on March 23 as investors bought into the biggest technology initial public offering in more than a year, with shares closing up more than 35 percent in their first day of trading.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 8 cents per share, beating estimates of 5 cents.